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by Starship T.A.R.D.I.S
Summary: Promises must be kept.


A battle was brewing. The tension could be felt in the air, increased by the arrival of the army of Dain Ironfoot. The fire haired she-elf stood alone atop a hill, hair billowing on the wind and hand at her blade as she estimated their forces, as Thranduil would be expecting a report. She saw no more than five hundred dwarves, assembled in full battle armor. They would not be too hard for most to destroy, after all, the hatred between elves and dwarves had raged for centuries. They would be hard for this elf to face though. Tauriel, captain of the guard, was in love with a dwarf. Kili, her prince under the mountain. She would not be able to force herself to fight him. She would not fight in this battle at all, if she had a choice. Tauriel did not want to fight because of the child. Her child. The unborn child of her and Kili, though he did not know. She was unable to contact him without arousing suspicion, because they were supposedly enemies in this battle. No, for the sake of the child, she would forsake the honor and glory of deeds in battle, if she could. But she could not. She was captain of the guard, and would be expected to fight. If she did not, then she would lose the respect of her men, and if she did, she might lose something infinitely more valuable, a child. If Thranduil were to know that his captain of the guard was not only in love with, but carried the child of a dwarf...she feared for her life. Thranduil's hatred of dwarves was legendary, and he saw even elves as traitors if they associated with dwarves, even if it was a matter as simple as commissioning a pair of blades or some armor. A child of both elf and dwarf heritage would be exiled, or even killed. Tauriel shook her head to clear it of such thoughts. Her child killed...not if she had any hand in the matter, she thought as she put her hand on her abdomen and felt the new life resonating within her. Child or no child, she had a job to do, and that was to report to Thranduil. She approached his tent, and entered.

"My lord." She said.

"Captain." Thranduil stated, merely acknowledging her presence. "Do you have a report?"

"Yes. There are no more than five hundred dwarves from the Blue Mountains. All of them are armed." She said.

"We number far more than they." Thranduil said arrogantly. "Dismissed." Tauriel bowed, then exited the tent.

Tauriel made her way to her tent and prepared for the battle. It was to come soon, that much was clear. Tomorrow perhaps. She sharpened her dual blades, and prepared as many arrows as her quiver could hold, then rested. She was determined not to die tomorrow. She stood as Legolas entered her tent.

"Are you ready?" Legolas asked.

"I hope so. I do not wish to die tomorrow." She said.

"Neither do I. Stay safe." Legolas said as he left.

The sun rose. The battle began. It was a fierce one, with waves of orcs, wargs, and goblins. She survived, but he...he was hurt. She could tell. He was laying flat on his back, three arrows embedded in his flesh and many wounds as well. He was not simply hurt, he was dying. She ran to his side, forgetting the battle raging around them. He would not die, he could not die, he thought to herself. He had to live, for her, for their child.

"Kili." She said gently, as she knelt by his side.

"Tauriel. My love, my lady of starlight...I will walk among your stars soon" Kili said, his chest heaving as he tried to breathe.

"No, you will not die! You cannot! You have to live, for me, for the child. Our child." Tauriel said, gently, tears gathering in her eyes as she realized just how desperate his condition was.

"A child...our child..." Kili smiled as he reached up and she guided his hand to her abdomen, where the child was. He reached into his pocket with his other hand, and took out his runestone.

"Take it." He rasped.

"No, no, you will return to your mountains, you must!" She cried.

"I cannot. You must, for me." Kili said as he pressed the runestone into her hand. "The two of you." He said, smiling as his chest rasped while he breathed his last. His hand fell, and she caught it.

"No, no!" She cried, sobbing as she clutched his hand. He couldn't leave her, he couldn't leave her alone to face the world with their child. All she could do was sob for a few moments, until she remembered the battle. She put the runestone in her pocket, made sure it was secure, then stood shakily. She wiped the tears from her face, then decided to do what Kili could not. She stood in defense of Thorin Oakenshield, until the battle was over. She staggered off of the battlefield, unwilling to deal with the death and destruction caused. She was drained. She had fought for hours, in defense of one who would seem to be her greatest enemy. She could barely deal with the pain of the loss of Kili, nor her sadness at his death, or her nervousness about with what might happen with the child. It was too much. She was not injured, or at least nothing that required medical attention in her opinion. She went to her tent, bound her wounds, and fell into an exhausted sleep.

The bodies. There were too many of them, too much death and destruction. Many died. It was hard for her to deal with. She was no stranger to blood and wounds, but actual death...elves were immortal, and their warriors were near invincible in battle. Too many died the previous day, and the waste was sickening. It was hard, but it was necessary to clear the bodies, and give them the honorable burial they deserved. She went to Kili's body first, or rather tried. A contingent of dwarven guards stood over them, and she could not pass. It was hard for her. She only wished to see him one last time, to gain one last memory of her love, but she could not.

They returned to Mirkwood, to tell the tale of the battle, to honor the dead and the great deeds accomplished there. It was a time of mourning, but celebration, as many elves had survived, and were reunited with their families. Tauriel had survived, but had no family to return to. Kili was dead, but his child remained in her. That in itself was a nerve wracking prospect. If others knew of the child's father, or simply that she was pregnant, she would be outcast from the kingdom, or even killed, for the hatred of dwarves ran deep in Elvish blood.

It would be hard for her. If she concealed the pregnancy as long as she could, it would mean fighting, for the forest would not rid itself of spiders simply because of one battle. She could not avoid future battles if she stayed, but if she fled now, she would be alone, in the forest during winter. That was not an inviting prospect. The only thing that she could do would be to stay in Mirkwood, and hope the child did not decide to make it's presence known until winter was over. Once winter was over, she could safely leave, but to where? Laketown? No, that would not do. It would be too close to Mirkwood for her liking. Erebor? The dwarves would not let her stay with them, though she carried one of their own. Suddenly she felt something smooth, with foreign writing engraved on it. Kili's runestone. His promise. Now her own. She would have to return it. Kili lived on through their child, and she would return if he could not. She decided to go to the Blue Mountains, to keep Kili's promise, and find a safe home for her child.

Months passed. Six to be precise. It was a spring day in May, and the time had come to leave. Tauriel had developed a small, but noticeable, bump now that she was halfway through her pregnancy. No questions had been asked so far, but she could tell that they would be soon coming. She prefered to leave on her own terms, to have time to say goodbye to her friends and forest, to prepare supplies for her journey. It was hard to leave. She would not be able to return, but she had to leave, for the sake of the child and the promise.

She said her goodbyes to all but one. That one was Legolas. He would demand answers, and she would refuse to answer his questions. He could have her thrown in prison, and that would not bode well for her or the child. Hopefully, she would simply seem to disappear, in a similar manner to how the dwarves disappeared from their cells many months ago. This was not fated to be. As she walked out of the gates for the final time, he appeared, walking beside her.

"Where are you going?" Legolas asked.

"The Blue Mountains." Tauriel responded, keeping her answer short and curt so to not permit further questions.

"Why?" He asked.

"To keep a promise." She answered.

"To whom?" Legolas asked.

"Someone." Tauriel said.

"If you are keeping a promise, then why don't you go with the person you promised? And why do you go now? We are just starting to track the spiders to Dol Guldur." He said. He had a point, but his questions were becoming tiresome.

"I go now because it is the proper time. I travel alone because some roads must be traveled alone." Tauriel said, with a tone in her voice that said she wanted no further questions.

"But still, why are you leaving?" Legolas said. Tauriel was becoming quite annoyed with him. He was pestering her still, when she clearly wanted to leave the kingdom and get a good distance away from it before sundown.

"My business is my own, and you would do well to leave me be." Tauriel said, her voice cold. Legolas started to walk away without a word, then stopped.

"When will you return?" He called. Tauriel did not answer. He knew what this meant. Never was when she was going to return. He ran back to her. He couldn't let his friend leave without saying goodbye. He embraced her, and told her the same thing that he told her before that fateful battle.

"Stay safe." He said, then ran back down the path. He was most certainly not holding back tears that he would never see his friend and comrade of many centuries, Tauriel, again. Not in the slightest.

Tauriel could not hold back the tears. She was leaving her home, her friends, for the sake of a promise and a child. It was hard, but it was for the best. That was all that she could tell herself as she took her leave of Mirkwood.

Many months passed. As Tauriel's abdomen swelled to an enormous size, she found it harder and harder to journey, though she knew she must. One day, exactly twelve months after she and Kili had been together for the last time, she felt the first pain. It was a long and hard labor, but the pain was worth it when she saw her son for the first time. He looked like Kili, almost an exact replica, except with green eyes and slightly pointed ears. She almost cried when she saw him. She named him Tawarthion, which meant woods, so he would not forget his Elven heritage despite his dwarven looks. Tawarthion was merely a month old when Tauriel bundled him up and wrapped herself in a cloak, for it was January, and set off to the home of the Lady Dis, in the Blue Mountains, to keep her promise.

It was a week before they reached the Blue Mountains. Kili's childhood home was nearly abandoned, save for one house. All but the occupants of the house had left for Erebor. Tauriel stood on the porch, runestone clutched in one hand and Tawarthion in her arms. Tentatively, she knocked at the door. A single she dwarf answered.

"What do you want, she elf!" The dwarf said angrily.

"i am looking for the Lady Dis." Tauriel said.

"Why do you seek her? Do you mean to kill her as your kind killed Thorin and my sons?" She thundered out into the night, the velvet sky and shining stars absorbing the sound. Sons...she must be Dis. Who else had two sons in the company. Before Tauriel had the chance to do anything, Tawarthion did. His cries echoed through the night, and up into the stars, where Tauriel sometimes felt a loving presence, and knew it to be Kili. Tauriel cradled Tawarthion and sang to him softly for a few moments, and he fell back to sleep.

"You have a child." Dis stated.

"Yes...and something else." Tauriel said. She pressed the runestone into Dis's hand, and saw on her face that Dis knew it was the same stone she had given to Kili. Tauriel turned Tawarthion's sleeping face towards Dis, who was shocked.

"He looks like...like...Kili." She said in a shocked whisper.

"He is his son." Tauriel simply stated.

"But...Kili is dead! A messenger sent word long ago that..." Dis started, then trailed off, for she was near tears.

"He promised you that he would return home. He could not, so I did." Tauriel said.

"He is home." Dis said softly as she welcomed Tauriel and Tawarthion into her home and her heart. Far up in the stars, Kili watched as the lady of starlight and the lady of stone conversed long into the night, each delighting in his son's baby babble when the child of tree and stone awoke.

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A/N

Hi! So I wrote this story off of the prompt "I have this heartshattering headcanon in which Kili gives Tauriel his _"Come back"_ runestone before dying and last thing we see is Tauriel showing up at his home, in front of his mother, the runestone clutched in one hand and a baby elf-dwarf in her arms." that vibeke-elske put on Tumblr, and when I read it, I immediately knew how I was going to write this, so thanks to them for letting me use their idea! What do you think? Let me know by reviewing and favoriting! Disclaimer: I own nothing. Starship T.A.R.D.I.S. out!


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